4th Grader Struck With Hammer

Published 8:00 pm, Thursday, February 21, 2002

Associated Press Writer

A man walked into an elementary school and struck an 8-year-old girl in the head with a hammer in an apparently random attack, authorities said.

Chad Brent Hagaman, 29, was arrested a few blocks from the school soon after the attack Thursday and held on $1 million bond. The girl, who was not identified, was seriously injured and listed in fair condition Friday at a hospital.

The fourth-grade girl told authorities she saw the man coming as she and her class were leaving the library at Mountain Park Elementary just before school was ending for the day.

She didn't recognize the man, who fled toward a nearby park, authorities said. It was unclear what door he used to gain access to the 588-student school near Atlanta.

At a late night hearing Thursday, Hagaman told Magistrate Judge Robert Mitchum he is being treated for schizophrenia.

"I do get confused without my medication," he said. "I haven't had it tonight."

Hagaman, who lives several blocks from the school, was charged with aggravated battery and aggravated assault.

"He said he just wanted to attack somebody, needed to attack somebody," said Cpl. Ray Dunlap, a police spokesman.

Students were kept inside and parents called after the attack. The school reopened Friday with increased security.

Alvin Wilbanks, Gwinnett County schools superintendent, said the girl still had the claw end of the hammer stuck in her head when she was airlifted to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston. Citing her parents' wishes, the hospital would give no detail on the girl's condition.